Why do people wait for the change of a year to decide that they want to make changes and do things better? Shouldn’t we be doing this every day?

Well, here I am on day four of 2016 proclaiming the things that I need to change and do better.

2015 was actually a pretty good year, considering that I lost my first loved one and jumped right into dealing with the loss of a parent. I did some traveling, I saw some cool bands, had some good times with family and friends and continued to be amazed by the evolution of a child. It wasn’t perfect but I did a good enough job trying not to let everything bring me to my knees.

Some fine tuning you say? Well, here we go. I’m going to look at these as challenges and not resolutions.

Be more active: I’m not saying that I’m going to go buy some Lululemon yoga pants and a bedazzled water bottle and go walk on the treadmill at VASA at .5 miles an hour while I’m gossiping about my friends and looking at Facebook on my phone. I like doing things. I’m a hockey player and that’s where my heart has always been. I need to get back into hockey shape and quit copping out when it comes to drop-ins. I need to find a league. I’m generally happier when I’m playing hockey. Other things – shoot hoops, wiffle ball games, walking the trail, walking to the other side of the warehouse to ask a question instead of paging someone. This is all easily doable and I can go from there.

Stop eating like an asshole: I was doing a good job tracking and kind of got away from it. I’m still tracking but I’m cutting corners and being generally lazy about it. I don’t need to go out to lunch when I have something in the fridge. I don’t need to sit and pick out of the serving dishes because they’re in front of me, I don’t need to eat Chanté and Milo’s food because I ate all of mine in three minutes. Little things like this make a big difference and it’s easy.

Not worrying so much about the way that I look: It’s kind of contradictory to my last two points, but I’ve been too skinny and I’ve been overweight; neither are fun. I want to get to a healthy point where I’m comfortable taking pictures and looking in the mirror again. It could be worse, but I should still look a little healthier without making myself miserable doing so.

Be more understanding of people’s thought process even if I don’t understand it: Unfortunately, due to personality conflicts, I had to close the door on some long term friendships last year. This isn’t the way to be. Everyone is wired different, have their quirks and don’t think exactly like you. You can disagree on many things and just leave it there without taking it personally. I need to seek to understand and accept why people are the way they are instead of resenting them over it. This will be my toughest challenge as it’s something that I have always struggled with. No more of this “my way or the highway” shit.

Be a better husband: Me and Chanté have our differences but we do what we do well. I need to exercise more patience and understanding. I need to show more appreciation for the things that she does and brings to the marriage. I need to talk to her more. I need to let the past be the past and not be such a Sarah Michelle Dweller about everything. I need her to know that I don’t feel like there is anything better and we need to learn and grow together.

Be a better father: I think that I do a great job but can always improve. Milo is my best friend and my little partner in crime. That said, I can stand to engage more. If he wants me to take him to a park or to play; I need to quit being lazy and do it. I have a smart kid who likes to be active. I should be grateful that he isn’t glued to video games (yet). I need to be more patient and understanding. He’s an anxious little dude and I can’t wrap my mind around my own anxiety; I can only imagine what it’s like for a five year old.

Quit wasting so much money: I’m a material boy and I’m fueled by OCD. It’s not a good combination. Do I really need 40 Patriots and Red Wings hats? Nope. Do I really need 100 Funko Pops!? Even more no. Yes, I will continue to build upon my music collection and collect random sports cards but I think that a savings account is probably more important than my hobbies at this point. Any budgeting advice?

Take a chill pill when it comes to sports: If you all don’t know this, I’m an obsessive sports fanatic. I won’t go into a lot of detail because if you’re reading this, you already know. I love sports but should a game that I have no control over and has no effect on me really dictate my mood for hours and even days? Let’s be real. I’m a Patriots and Red Wings fan. I’ve witnessed them win a combined 8 championships in the last two decades. These guys could never win a game again and would I really have the right to be miserable? Probably not, but…

Read: There’s a lot of good stuff to learn out there. Why not?

Pump the breaks on Social Media: Social Media isn’t what it used to. It used to be fun. Now it’s a forum for arguing, bullying and ruining relationships. Facebook is the biggest place for this, hence I don’t have one anymore. Twitter is good for info, but I can stand to spend less time on it. Instagram is fun but does a 36 year old dude really need to post hundreds of pics of Katy Perry? It’s time to slow my roll.

Be a better person: I’m highly flawed but I mean well. I think that people generally like me but I can be a bit much a lot of the time. Trolling is only fun for so long before people get genuinely annoyed with you, I don’t need to make a snarky remark about everything and and as I mentioned earlier – I need to work on building relationships and not destroying them.

All of this really comes down to putting an effort into live your life well. None of these things are out of reach and I shouldn’t have to change too much to get to where I need to be.